Liquid mixing and spraying apparatus



July 3, 1956 w. v. OFFUTT LIQUID MIXING AND SPRAYING APPARATUS FiledNov. 25, 1953 I N VEN TOR Ii'lkk m fflffmii ATTORNEYS LIQUID MIXING ANDSPRAYING APPARATUS William V. Oiiutt, Downey, Calif. ApplicationNovember 25, 1953, Serial No. 394,315

8 Claims. (Cl. 299-454) This invention relates to liquid sprayers of thetype in which a flowing column of water in the form of a jet picks up arelatively small but constant proportion of a substance in concentratedliquid solution or colloidal suspension.

ln sprayers of this type, a jet of water usually passes over the opentop of a tube, the lower end of which is submerged in the concentrate,the latter being picked up by aspiration incident to the velocity of thewater jet.

One of the objects of the present invention is to deliver theconcentrate to the water jet by gravity, specifically by siphon action,the flow at the delivery point being limited to a small head, utilizingthe velocity of the jet to first deflect said flow into a mixingchamber, and then to aspirate the mixture from said mixing chamber backinto said jet.

More specifically stated, it is an object of the invention to provide asprayer embodying a nozzle adapted to be connected to a garden hose forproducing a jet of water, and including means defining an upwardlyinclined surface intersecting the axis of the water jet and upon whichsurface said jet impinges for converting it into flat fanlike form,providing a siphon tube insertable at one end into the top of a vesselof concentrate carried by said sprayer and opening at its other end inthe interface between said fan-like jet and said inclined surface at apoint above the axis of the nozzle, for utilizing the flow of the flatjet over said opening, first to start the siphon by aspiration, then todrive the siphonic head of concentrate Welling up in the interfacebetween said jet and said inclined surface, down through an inletpassage to a mixing chamber, then to aspirate the mixture through adischarge passage from said mixing chamber back into said jet at a pointbeyond the point where the concentrate was first entrained by said jet,and from the point of last mentioned aspiration causing the jet toimpinge upon a steeper inclined surface whereby it is shattered intoparticles having various trajectories, producing an extensive area ofsaturation where the spray falls to the ground.

Another object of the invention is to provide a sprayer of the typedisclosed, in which the inclined deflected sur- 1 face is in two stagesat different angularity, the primary deflecting surface which intersectsthe axis of the water jet at a relatively small angle to the horizontal,and is concerned with fanning the jet, and a secondary deflectingsurface wholly above the axis of the water jet and being at a slightlysteeper angle than the primary deflecting surface whereby the fan-likejet is broken into parts having diflerent trajectories so that thefalling spray wets an area of considerable extent, as contrasted withthe fanlike spray, the wetting effect of which upon the ground isconfined to an area of small extent.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a metering orificebetween the siphon tube and inlet passage to the mixing chamber, aportion of the boundary wall of which is the water jet itself, whereby asolid particle of such size as to obstruct a conventional orifice of thesame size, is able to displace the liquid portion of the bounding wallof the orifice and pass through it.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the following descriptionof a practical embodiment thereof proceeds.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of the followingspecification, and throughout the several figures of which the samereference characters have been employed to denote identical parts:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a sprayer embodying the principles ofthe invention;

Figure 2 is an end elevation of the same;

Figure 3 is a plan view;

Figure 4 is a longitudinal vertical the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a cross-section taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary plan view on an enlarged scale, taken alongthe line 6-6 of Figure 4.

Referring now indetail to the several figures, the numeral 1 representsthe sprayer as a whole, which in the embodiment shown is a gardensprayer for applying to the lawn, ground, or plants a water spraycontaining a proportion of liquid nutrient ingredients or insecticidemixed with the water by the operator. The sprayer cornprises the body 2,supported by wire skids 3 which are sprung into holes 3a at oppositeends of the body on opposite sides, and which stably support thesprayer, enabling it to be drawn along the ground.

The top face 4 of the body is formed with intersecting diagonal channels5, one of which is deeper than the other, and which receive the crossedmiddle portions 6 of a pair of U-shaped frames 7, riveted at the center,and which together form a basket for receiving a bottle or othercontainer of the concentrate which is to be mixed with the water. Thebasket may be held in place by a single screw through one of theportions 6, and screwed into the body. Figures 1, 2 and 3 show thebottle 10 in place.

The body portion 1 has a cylindrical bore 11, which is preferablyparallel to the base plane defined by the bot toms of the skids, tappedat one end to receive the hose section taken along connections 12, andat the opposite end formed with a reduced nozzle 13.

That portion of the body to the right of the nozzle 13 is formed with arecess 14 flaring toward the outer end of the body. The bottom of saidrecess is composed of two upwardly inclined deflecting faces, each ofwhich is transversely planiform. The lower or primary deflecting face 15intersects the axis of the nozzle 13 and is inclined at a small anglewith respect to said axis. The function of this face is to spread theimpinging water jet from the nozzle 13 into a flat fan-like jet, thewidth of which is limited by the sides 16 of said recess. The upper orsecondary deflecting face 17 is wholly above the axis of the nozzle andis at a slightly steeper angle than the primary face 15. It adjoins theprimary face along a transverse straight line and along said line it isstepped below the plane of the primary face, forming a channel 18.

A nipple 19 of small diameter extends through the body 1, opening in theface 15 above the axis of the nozzle. Said nipple is connected to aflexible tube 2% having a strainer 21 at its free end. Said tube isshown positioned as a siphon, being looped over the mouth of the bottleand extending down into the bottle below the liquid level therein, themouth of the nipple 19 being below the level of the bottom of thebottle.

Also opening in the face 15, immediately behind the mouth of the nipple19 is a passage 22 which communi' cates with a mixing chamber 23 formedas a cylindrical bore extending within the body 1 and stoppered at itsouter end by the plug 2-3. The passage 22 and the nipple mutuallyconverge in an upward direction, being separated adjacent their mouthsby the common wall 25. This wall being defined by the circular mouths ofthe nipple and passage 212, is Wider at its ends than in its middle. Atits ends it is in the plane of the inclined face 15. 'In the-middle itis indented by a notch 26, the bottom of which notch is below the planeof the inclined face 15 Back of the passage 22, the body is formed witha transverse series of" discharge passages 27, extending from the mixingchamber and opening into the channel 18. The nipple 1 9 and passage 22are oppositely inclined and on opposite sides of a line per'pendicularto the inclined face 15 and passing through the middle of the commonwall 25. This arrangement causes the mouth of the nipple to be directedslightly away from the nozzle 13, so that the water jet from'said nozzlewill tend to avoid entering the nipple, while the passage 22 is inclinedcontra to the'direction offlow of'the jet, so that water will tend to bedriven into it.

The difference in level between the top face 4. of the body and themouth of the nipple 19 is small, so that when the tube 20 is operatingas a siphon, only a small head of liquid willissue from the nipple.

In the operation of the sprayer, a garden hose 28 is coupled to the hoseconnections 12, and, a jet of water from the hose issues from the nozzle13. The bottle 10 or other container is placed within the basket 8, asshown in Figure l, and the tube 20 is inserted in the mouth of thebottle or in the open top of whatever type of container is used. At thestart, it will require aspiration by the water jet in order to initiatethe siphon flow of concentrate from the bottle. The water jet strikesthe inclined face 15 below the mouth of the nipple 19, being transformedintoa flat fan shaped jet which travels along the face 15 across themouth of the nipple. Since the relatively wide end portions of thecommon wall are in the plane of the inclined face 15, an aspiratingeffect is produced by the passage of that portion of the fanlike jetwhich. travels across the opening in, the zones of these wider portionsof the common wall. This produces sufiicient suction to start the siphonwhich, if not found. influenced by the fan-like jet, wouldproduce. a lowand gentle welling up of water above the surface of the inclined face15, from the mouth ofthe nipple 19 However, since the notch is below theplane of the inclined face 15, and the direction of impingement of thewater against the face 15 produces a component of force actingdownwardly against said face, the head of water that would well upbeyond the, mouth of the nipple 19 is beaten down by the fan-likeflowand driven through the notch 26 into the passage 22 and down intothe mixing chamber. A very small proportion of concentrate will beincorporated'in the fan-like water jet through aspiration, but most of.the mixing takes place within the mixing chamber in which the water andconcentrate are thrown into spiral agitation and distributed lengthwiseof the mixing chamber. As the fan-like jet passes over the channel 18,aspiration again becomes the dominant factor of operation, the mixedwater and concentrate being drawn up through the several passages 27.and thus distributed uniformly throughout the width of the water jet. Asthe inclined face 16 is at a steeper angle than the. face 15, the effectwill be to shatter the fan-like jet in a vertical direction, givingdifferent trajectories tothe jet particles, so that some of them fallvrelatively close to the sprayer while some of them fall at a greaterdistance and at all intermediate distances, creating an area, ofsaturation.

rather than a line of saturation which would be characteristic. of spraydelivered by a deflecting. surface of uniform inclination throughout.

The round shape of the terminal lip of the inclined face 16 enhances theeven distribution of the spray.

It will be understood that since, as has been stated, only a very smallproportion of the concentrate is mixed with that portion of the fan-likejet which passes over the inclined face 15 without going into the mixingchamber, the notch 26 may be considered a metering orifice, since theportion of the concentrate which avoids going through the slot isnegligible. As the slot is the metering device, the nipple may be madeof sufiicient internal diameter to pass particles of as large a size asmay be expected to be encountered in the use of the sprayer. The notchitself may be regarded as an orifice of flexible size, since although itis open at the top, it is, completed by the jet of water flowing overits top, and which may be considered a flexible portion of the wall ofsaid orifice. Consequently, if a particle of colloidal matter such as isfrequently met with in the spraying of insecticidal or fungicidalemulsions, should pass through the nipple 19 and become lodgedmomentarily against the orifice 26, the force of the water impingingagainst the wall 25 in the region of the orifice will cause the particleto move upward against the edges of the orifice, displacing the flexiblewall of water completing the top of said orifice until it is free topass with said water either along the inclined surface of the recess 14or into the mixing chamber 23.

Figure 1 shows that one of the legs 29 of the basket 8 is taller thanthe others, and provided with a scale which is referable to the contentsof the bottle so that the siphon tube 20 may be placed at any definitedistance from the bottom of the bottle, whereby the flow of concentrateto the nipple 19 will be stopped when the liquid in the bottle descendsto the level at which the siphon becomes inoperative.

If desired, the body portion 1 may be used as a hand sprayer without thebenefit of the Skids.

One of the advantages of conducting the concentrate to the point ofentrainment with the jet by a siphon is that the original bottle or canin which the concentrate is purchased may be employed; in its normalupright position with the sprayer, without the necessity of decanting itor otherwise transferring it to a special vessel having a dischargeopening at its bottom.

Since in the normal operation of the sprayer the water jet is relievedfrom the load of drawing concentrate to the point of entrainment, theenergy thus conserved is available for driving the concentrate down intothe mixing chamben so that the sprayer can operate etficiently at alower water jet velocity than would otherwise be the case.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I- believe. to be apreferred and practical embodiment of the invention, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that the specific details ofconstruction and arrangernent of parts, as shown and described, are byway of example and not to be construed as limiting the scope of theinvention.

What- I- claim is:

1 Liquid spray apparatus comprising means adapted to support a containerof concentrate and providing a substantially flat distributing surfaceand. a nozzle positioned to direct a jet of liquid obliquely againstsaid distributing surfacev to. form a fan-like sheet of liquid moving,in contact with said surface, a suction aperture insa-idsurface openingbeneath said sheet, a siphon tube having one end connected .to saidaperture and. the. other adapted to enter said container from its top,whereby siphonic aetion is started through aspiration by saidsheetgcausing cqncentrate to well up in said aperture to becomeentrained in said sheet, means providing a mixing chamber beneath saiddistributing surface, an inlet passage to said, mixing chamber havingits mouth adjacentj'said aperture, an. outlet passage from said mixingchamber opening in said distributing surface. beneath said sheet at apoint beyond said inletpassage, a, common wal 1 b etWu SL 41, apertureand the mouth of said inlet passage the end portions of said wall beingin the plane of said distributing surface and the intermediate portionentrants being below the plane of said distributing surface, wherebyconcentrate rising to said aperture is driven into said inlet passageand mixing chamber with vehicle liquid from said sheet, said mixturebeing drawn from said mixing chamber by way of said outlet passagethrough aspiration by said sheet in moving over said outlet passage.

2. Liquid spray apparatus comprising means adapted to support acontainer of concentrate and providing a substantially flat distributingsurface and a nozzle positioned to direct a jet of liquid obliquelyagainst said distributing surface to form a fan-like sheet of liquidmoving in contact with said surface, a suction aperture in said surfaceopening beneath said sheet, a siphon tube having one end connected tosaid aperture and the other adapted to enter said container from itstop, whereby siphonic action is started through aspiration by saidsheet, causing concentrate to well up in said aperture to becomeentrained in said sheet, means providing a mixing chamber beneath saiddistributing surface, an inlet passage to said mixing chamber having itsmouth adjacent said aperture, a plurality of outlet passages from saidmixing chamber opening in said distributing surface beneath said sheetat transversely spaced intervals at a point beyond said inlet passage, acommon wall between said aperture and the mouth of said inlet passagethe end portions of said wall being in the plane of said distributingsurface and the intermediate portion being below :the plane of saiddistributing surface, whereby concentrate rising to said aperture isdriven into said inlet passage and mixing chamber with vehicle liquidfrom said sheet, said mixture being drawn from said mixing chamber byway of said outlet passages through aspiration by said sheet in movingover said outlet passages.

3. Liquid spray apparatus comprising means adapted to support acontainer of concentrate and providing a substantially flat distributingsurface and a nozzle positioned to direct a jet of liquid obliquelyagainst said distributing surface to form a fan-like sheet of liquidmoving in contact with said surface, a suction aperture in said surfaceopening beneath said sheet, a siphon tube having one end connected tosaid aperture and the other adapted to enter said container from itstop, whereby siphonic action is started through aspiration by saidsheet, causing concentrate to well up in said aperture to becomeentrained in said sheet, means providing a mixing chamber beneath saiddistributing surface, an inlet passage to said mixing chamber having itsmouth adjacent said aperture, a transverse channel across saiddistributing surface beyond said mixing chamber, a plurality of outletpassages from said mixing chamber opening in said channel beneath saidsheet at transversely spaced intervals, a common wall between saidaperture and the mouth of said inlet passage the end portions of saidwall being in the plane of said distributing surface and theintermediate portion being below the plane of said distributing surface,whereby concentrate rising to said aperture is driven into said inletpassage and mixing chamber with vehicle liquid from said sheet, saidmixture being drawn from said mixing chamber by way of said outletpassages through aspiration by said sheet in moving over said channel.

4. Liquid spray apparatus comprising means adapted to support acontainer of concentrate and providing a substantially flat distributingsurface consisting of lower and upper portions relatively angularlydisposed at a wide angle, and a nozzle positioned to direct a jet ofliquid obliquely against the lower portion of said distributing surfaceto form a fan-like sheet of liquid mov ing in contact with said surface,a suction aperture in said lower portion opening beneath said sheet, asiphon tube having one end connected to said aperture and the otheradapted to enter said container from the top, whereby siphonic action isstarted through aspiration by said sheet causing concentrate to well upin said aperture to become entrained in said sheet, means providing amixing chamber beneath said distributing surface, an inlet passage tosaid mixing chamber having its mouth adjacent said aperture, saiddistributing surface being formed with a transverse channel demarkingsaid lower from said upper portion, a plurality of outlet passages fromsaid mixing chamber opening in said channel beneath said sheet, a commonwall between said aperture and the mouth of said inlet passage, saidwall being notched in the middle providing an orifice wherebyconcentrate rising to said aperture is driven through said orifice intosaid inlet passage and mixing chamber by vehicle liquid derived fromsaid sheet, said mixture being drawn from said mixing chamber by way ofsaid outlet passages through aspiration by said sheet in moving oversaid channel.

5. Liquid spray apparatus comprising means adapted to support acontainer of concentrate and providing a substantially flat distributingsurface and a nozzle positioned to direct a jet of liquid obliquelyagainst said distributing surface to form a fan-like sheet of liquidmoving in contact with said surface, a suction aperture in said surfaceopening beneath said sheet, a siphon tube having one end connected tosaid aperture and the other adapted to enter said container from its topwhereby siphonic action is started through aspiration by said sheetcausing concentrate to well up in said aperture to become entrained insaid sheet, means for providing a mixing chamber beneath saiddistributing surface, an inlet passage to said mixing chamber having itsmouth adjacent said aperture, a common wall beneath said aperture andthe mouth of said inlet passage, an orifice indenting said wall in themiddle whereby concentrate rising to said aperture is driven by vehicleliquid derived from said sheet through said orifice and into said mixingchamber, said orifice being formed as a notch having an inflexiblebounding edge at sides and bottom and having a yielding boundary at thetop constituted by the sheet of water moving across said common wall,whereby a potentially obstructive solid particle encountering saidorifice can displace said yielding boundary sufficiently to pass throughsaid orifice.

6. Liquid spray apparatus comprising a body member adapted to support acontainer of concentrate and providing a substantially flat distributingsurface consisting of lower and upper portions relatively angularlydisposed at a wide angle, and a nozzle positioned to direct a jet ofliquid obliquely successively against said lower and upper portions, toform a laterally flared sheet of liquid moving in contact with saidlower portion and a depthwise flared sheet moving over said upperportion, a suction aperture in said lower portion opening beneath saidsheet, a siphon tube having one end connected to said aperture and theother adapted to enter said container from its top, whereby siphonicaction is started through aspiration by said sheet, causing concentrateto well up in said aperture to become entrained in said sheet, meansproviding a mixing chamber beneath said distributing surface, an inletpassage to said mixing chamber having its mouth adjacent said aperture,an outlet passage from said mixing chamber opening in said lower portionbeneath said sheet at a point beyond said inlet passage, a common wallbetween said aperture and the mouth of said inlet passage the endportions of said wall being in the plane of said distributing surfaceand the intermediate portion being indented by a notch like orifice,whereby concentrate rising to said aperture is driven through saidorifice into said inlet passage and mixing chamber by vehicle liquidderived from said sheet, said mixture being drawn from said mixingchamber by way of said outlet passage through aspiration by said sheetin moving over said outlet passage.

7. Liquid spraying apparatus as claimed in claim 6, including a bottlesupporting rack on said body member having upstanding bottle retaininglimbs, one of said limbs 1, car rying a scale referable to the liquidlevel in, a bottle carriedby said;rack.

8. Liquid spraying apparatus as claimed in claim 6, including skidssupporting said body member with the axis of the nozzle substantiallyhorizontal, said body member having a hose coupling communicating withsaid nozzle.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Hermann Jan. 28, 19.41 Budwig Oct. 28, 1941.Williams May 22, 1945 Hayes Aug. 7, 1945 Flanders- Jan. 2 1951 BatesAug. 26, 1952

